Category: kmiz-local-news

Olivia Hayes

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The family of Zarian Simpson is speaking out after one of people accused in the robbery and killing of Simpson appeared in court on Wednesday.

Simpson was killed on Sunday night at a Columbia apartment complex.

Steven Padden, 34, of Columbia is charged with first-degree robbery, armed criminal action and second-degree felony murder. He is being held at the Boone County Jail without bond. A hearing was held on Wednesday where Paden appeared by video from the jail. A confined docket hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday, June 26; while a preliminary hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday, July 15.

Nathan Simpson, Zarian’s older brother, described Zarian as bright, intelligent and hardworking.

“He could do anything he put his mind to. I’m not even kidding. Like anything he wanted to do, he did it,” Nathan Simpson said.

Zarian Simpson just graduated from Hickman High School in May. His brother said he was saving up to buy a new car.

“He wanted a Corvette actually,” Nathan Simpson said. “My little brother fixed them cars, you know that? He did that himself. He put them together, he did the wraps, he did the star lights, all of it.”

The Missouri State Highway Patrol statistics show that Columbia has had 133 gun-related crimes this year. People ages 10-17 were the largest age group of those arrested for violent crime in Columbia, according to the data.

Nathan Simpson is urging the parents of teenagers to step up and break the cycle of violence.

“Half of these parents out here right now; You can’t even call them asking where the kids are. They don’t know. They don’t care. They just let their kids do whatever they want. And what’s even worse is have these parents is condoning it. They do it with them,” Nathan Simpson said.

Three teens are also behind bars awaiting their first court appearances. Two of the teens will face a judge on Friday morning.

The City of Columbia’s Office of Crime Prevention told ABC 17 News that after the events over the weekend, it’s looking into prevention and intervention strategies to help lower crime rates amongst youth in the area.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Several Columbia community members on Wednesday gathered at Rose Music Hall in Columbia, soaking in the time to celebrate, before rain brought the celebration to an early end.

“It’s just very important for us to recognize how much people have to go through for us to be free and give people in our community of space to come together,” Charlee’ette Glover, lead program assistant of Moving Ahead, said.

The event was one of the many celebrations that will be held this week throughout Columbia for Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. The City of Columbia awarded funds to 12 events this year.

The city was awarded $29,800 in grant funding from the Missouri Arts Council.

While the event aims to serve as a celebration, some say recent political tensions– including President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have crossed their mind.

“I can see how it makes some people feel unsafe,” Glover said. “But I think in the midst of that, this event is just a really good example of the fact that people do prevail, that when we come together as a community, we can stand against these sorts of things.”

James Gray also helped organize a Juneteenth celebration and luncheon that will take place at Douglass Park Thursday morning. He’s also a part of the Juneteenth parade scheduled for Saturday morning in Downtown Columbia.

Gray said both political tensions and Sunday’s shooting that left an 18-year-old dead may have some in the community feeling uneasy heading into celebrations. However, Gray said that makes celebrations more important than ever.

“It’s time that we stop talking and it’s time that we put out and do something,” Gray said. “That’s why it’s important that we come together. That’s why it’s important that we speak the same language.”

Gray said police will be at both events and members of the group have been trained to watch for suspicious behavior. The Columbia Police Department told ABC 17 News it plans to have normal patrols on Thursday and over the weekend.

A full list of Juneteenth events can be found here.

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ABC 17 News Team

KINGDOM CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Officials in Kingdom City on Wednesday held a groundbreaking ceremony for a bridge removal project.

Crews are getting rid of the low-clearance railroad bridge, over Old Highway 40 between Baynum Avenue and Highway 54.

The bridge was built for railroad use, and has a clearance of 13 feet, 1 inch. By removing it, officials say it will improve traffic throughout the area.

“We want to make this a place where people want to come and they want to be together and they want to stay or they want to come through and enjoy their time and then have a safe path out,” City Manager Larry Doyle said.

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Mitchell Kaminski

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The University of Missouri Department of Emergency Medicine is seeking funding to launch a new safety initiative aimed at improving emergency response times and outcomes for crash victims in Mid-Missouri.

The proposed initiative, called the Advanced Critical EMS Response Program, would temporarily equip a local emergency response vehicle with advanced care tools; such as blood products, a critical care ventilator and portable ultrasound equipment. The vehicle would also be staffed by specially trained clinicians.

Currently, these advanced resources are only available through helicopter transport, which often delays the delivery of life-saving care. MU officials say the goal of the program is to reduce that delay and improve patient outcomes.

“Just because the helicopter lands at the scene of the incident, doesn’t mean that they’re going to be back in the air flying to the hospital in just a few minutes,” Boone County Fire Protection District Assistant Chief Gale Blomenkamp said. “It takes some time. It takes a lot of coordination to make that transition.”

Blomenkamp said in many cases, ground crews can get patients to the hospital faster than air transport.

“Many times we can have a patient to University Hospital within our jurisdiction. We can get them there quicker than a helicopter can,” he said.

However, helicopters can be vital in certain situations, especially in complex rescues or poor road conditions.

“If we have an extended extraction, say we’ve got somebody trapped in the car that’s going to take us 30, 40 minutes to get them out, which it has happened, then the helicopter is probably our best bet,” Blomenkamp said. “They could be there and even start their treatment before we get the patient even out, which it has happened, then the helicopter is probably  our best bet because they could be there  and even start their treatment before we get the patient even out of that time  and get them out of the car,  we can load them into the helicopter and they can take off pretty quickly.” 

Blomenkamp also noted that helicopters require preflight checks, which can delay response time by up to 10 minutes. In contrast, a ground EMS unit equipped with similar advanced tools could reach the scene faster.

“That equipment that’s normally carried on a helicopter, i.e., blood products… that can be there on the scene quicker, then that’s where that response time really helps,” Blomenkamp said. “So if you can do blood products or some of those other drugs and things that they carry on a helicopter to the scene by ground in 15, 20 minutes, you’re doing stuff there a lot quicker than if you wait for a helicopter.”

The University of Missouri’s Department of Emergency Medicine is currently requesting letters of support from stakeholders as part of its grant application. The deadline to apply is June 26.

One letter was recently sent to the Columbia Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission. In it, MU officials said the program could significantly reduce emergency response times and improve survival rates for critically injured patients.

“We will use pre-post studies to assess the scalability of the program and its effectiveness for reducing fatalities in Columbia, MO,” wrote Julie Stilley, associate research professor and director of emergency medicine research. “This information will inform future strategies that may be used in the City of Columbia’s Vision Zero policy.”

Stilley also attended the June 3 Vision Zero meeting to discuss how emergency response times can impact crash outcomes.

“Vision Zero’s goal is to reduce or eliminate traffic fatalities. So currently, the response time for serious injuries is pretty long,” Bicycle and Pedestrian Commission Chair Elke Boyd said. “What MU wants to do is, they want to do a study to see what the effect is of equipping one emergency response vehicle with similar equipment to a helicopter.”

Boyd also emphasized how faster response times would benefit the city’s most vulnerable road users.

“It’s a fact that nonmotorized users of traffic have a much higher mortality rate when they do get into an accident than people who are driving a vehicle because we don’t have that protective outer shell,” Boyd said. “Pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcycle riders are vulnerable road users that have a higher rate of death and injury. So we stand to particularly benefit from better response times.”

The commission drafted a letter of support, which was approved during their Wednesday night meeting. 

For the third consecutive year, Missouri has seen a decline in traffic fatalities. According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, 954 people died in roadway crashes in 2024 — down 4% from 2023 and 10% from 2022. However, that still amounts to an average of 2.6 deaths per day.

The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety continues to emphasize that buckling up, putting phones down, slowing down and driving sober are key ways to prevent fatal crashes.

ABC 17 News has reached out to MU Health Care for comment.

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Katie Greathouse

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Police are searching for a driver who crashed into a building near Downtown Columbia late Wednesday night.

The crash happened just after 10:30 p.m. at Broadway and Second Street at the Monarch Title building. Sgt. Shawn Claypool told ABC 17 News on scene that the driver that hit the building and another car drove away before officers got there. Claypool said the only damage to the building done was to the gutter.

A witness on scene told ABC 17 News that their father was in the other car hit and was being taken to the hospital for help with his injuries.

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Matthew Sanders

The verdict in the second trial of Karen Read came in on Wednesday, and the jury found her not guilty of killing her boyfriend.

The closely watched trial ended with several days of deliberation before the jurors acquitted Read of killing her boyfriend, John O’Keefe, a Boston police officer. The public has been sharply divided over Read’s guilt, and her first trial ended in a mistrial.

Did the jury reach the right conclusion? Let us know what you think by voting in the poll.

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Jazsmin Halliburton

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Multiple family-friendly events took place across Columbia on Thursday to celebrate Juneteenth, which is considered the longest-running African American holiday.

“They Were Always There” Tribute to Black Veterans was held at 11 a.m. at the Boone County War Memorial Plaza. This event, hosted by the U.S. Exercise Tiger Foundation, featured a wreath-laying ceremony and medal presentation.

Executive Director of the U.S. Tiger Foundation, Walter Dominski he’s honored to help the organization hold the event to recognize African Americans on this day.

“United States Exercise Tiger Foundation is very honored that we can recognize our black veterans and soldiers that took part and that serve and sometimes go unrecognized,” said Domanski.

Veteran siblings Vanessa and Kenneth Bradford were some of the recognized, telling ABC 17 they feel honored to be recognized on Juneteenth.

“I’ve never been out for the Juneteenth celebration. So for this to be an honored day and they honored me, I’m like,  what? You know? So I just felt like that was just so positive,” said Vanessa Bradford.

“I feel outstanding. I am overjoyed. It’s been an honor. But it feels amazing  to be appreciated,” said Kenneth Bradford.

From noon to 4 p.m., Powerhouse Community Development Corporation also hosted its annual Juneteenth event at Cosmo Park in the Burford shelter. This featured live cultural entertainment, educational activities for kids, historical displays, multi-age games, food and drinks.

Powerhouse Committee CEO Charles Stephenson tells ABC 17 how excited he was for Powerhouse to be able to help put this event on for the community to come together in celebration of the holiday.

“It’s exciting that we can celebrate our rich culture and history here in America, here in Columbia,  with other people from all race, creeds and colors,” said Stephenson

Stephenson said that everyone coming out to the event to celebrate shows him that even though in recent light gun violence has affected the city of Columbia, people can come together and help the kids get away from all that and celebrate.

COMO’s Juneteenth celebration and luncheon was also at Douglas Park.

The final event for Thursday is the “Let Freedom Ring” event from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., presented by the Columbia African American Business Alliance at the Urban Empowerment Ministries, 2404 Industrial Drive.

Juneteenth celebrations are set to continue throughout the weekend as well, including the 3×3 basketball tournament for kids grades 3-12 and the Juneteenth parade on Saturday starting at 9 a.m.

All Juneteenth events are free and open to the public.

Additional Juneteenth events taking place this weekend can be found here.

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Nia Hinson

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Finding missing people is getting easier thanks to an important piece of technology: Drones.

Missouri Task Force 1 has 30 drones under its belt that are used throughout Boone County for various missions. Some of those missions include helping local law enforcement, such as the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.

The department began flying drones in 2017. Recently, they’ve been required every week. According to IT Division director Jason Warzinik, since Jan. 1, the drones have been flown 240 times for 348 miles. Five of those flights included local fire calls and mutual aid callouts.

Boone County Fire Chief Scott Olsen said they’re also frequently used in structure or wildfires to determine where there’s still excessive fire or heat.

“They’re able to allow us to see things that we’ve never seen before unless we had a helicopter at our disposal,” Olsen said. “It gives us ready situational awareness and situational assessment of what’s going on, but it makes a lot of our operations more efficient.”

Brian Leer of the Boone County Sheriff’s Office said the drones have become a vital tool for the sheriff’s office, especially when it comes search and rescue.

“They’re able to go in locations that it would be very difficult to put a person you know? Think terrain,” Leer said. “Some of the parks that we have, they can get up and figure out where these people are and they can hover there.”

Leer said the capabilities of the drones, including being able to speak and hear, along with features such as a spotlight and infrared, are what help make them so effective. Leer also said the number of drones and the ability to switch out batteries and keep surveillance of an area for the department are crucial.

According to Warzinik, the task force’s quadcopters’ flight time maxes out at about 40 minutes, while larger drones with fixed wings can fly for about 60 minutes to an hour and a half.

Leer said that while the drones help deputies do their jobs better. He said search and rescue missions would take them astronomically longer, and they likely wouldn’t be able to find what they’re searching for without the drones.

GPS technology and the ability to map different layers also help deputies when tracking a person on foot. Heat signatures allow them to pinpoint where a person is in the dark, which came in handy in May when two juveniles escaped from the justice center near Prathersville.

Olsen said the drone captured the heat signature from one of the two juveniles, allowing them to locate him 30 feet up in a tree.

“When you see the technology helping us help people and keep people safe and hold others accountable and apprehend criminals and those that have escaped and of that nature, they’re great tools,” Leer said.

Leer said the drones can also be helpful in vehicle crashes where it’s believed someone may have been thrown from the vehicle.

ABC 17 News takes a look at the way these drones help other agencies across the state in a special report airing Thursday after the NBA Finals on KMIZ.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A man was charged on Wednesday in Phelps County with first-degree rape.

Emmanuel Sam, 23, of Rolla, is being held at the Phelps County Jail without bond. A court date has not been scheduled. The probable cause statement says that Sam is from Ghana and is in the U.S. to attend college. A court filing says that he is not from the U.S. “and has a passport that would allow him to leave the country.”

Court documents say the alleged victim had a sexual assault kit done at an area hospital on Tuesday. The victim allegedly met Sam through Facebook’s dating function and went to his apartment. She allegedly told him to stop as he initiated sex, the statement says.

A search warrant was conducted at the apartment while Sam was not there, the statement says. Law enforcement found a used condom and other items, according to court documents.

Sam eventually called law enforcement and allegedly admitted that the victim told him to stop during the encounter, the statement says.

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Ryan Shiner

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A Columbia man pleaded guilty on Monday to multiple child sex crimes.

Tarl Williams pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child molestation and one count of third-degree child molestation. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was given credit for time served. 

He was originally charged with two counts of statutory sodomy of a child younger than 12 years old and one count of statutory sodomy of a child younger than 14 years old.

Multiple child victims described sexual assaults by Williams in court documents. The children stated the assaults began when they were very young, the probable cause statement says.

Williams was arrested in a Fazoli’s parking lot and initially denied the allegations to police before admitting to the allegations in an interview, the statement says.

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